I've been thinking about the innovation of interactive streaming--how versatile, convenient and instantly gratifying it is. Interactive, however, means that before I take off for a drive to the mall or a run on the beach I have a decision to make: what do I want to listen to?

Airplane! also comes loaded with a brand of shtick, which, 35 years after the movie's release, might make the more politically correct Angelenos feel, well, gagged with a spoon, to use some Airplane!-era phraseology of the San Fernando Valley, where Garcetti grew up.

With so much of our country mired in the nonsensical pablum that has paralyzed Washington and the news media (think Rudy Giuliani, Brian Williams and Bill O"Reilly), it is refreshing listening to a mayor who understands jive but doesn't give it to us.

Whether you have never listened to podcasts before of if you are a standard This American Life and RadioLab listener and want to hear something new, here is a list of podcasts you may want to check out.

Happily, L.A.'s locally grown music scene is as vibrant and diverse as ever with a slew of recent independent E.P.s and L.P.s so fresh and creative, they deserve your love and attention -- and airplay (KCRW and KCSN are you listening?).

Perhaps the most talked about episode of television this year aired a few weeks ago. A prominent character had just been killed. Another was handed over to be tortured by a band of neo-Nazi meth-makers.

BBC Radio's Gilles Peterson, who I met about 12 years ago, has been connecting musical dots for over a generation. He is now blending soul, funk, latin, house, jazz, hip-hop in an effortless manner that makes it seem like jumbling those genres is exactly how it should be.

Sensitivity to aesthetics and the arts does not a good mayor make. But I believe that sensitivity to aesthetics and the arts can make a good mayor better. This is my hope for Eric Garcetti if he goes the distance and becomes the next mayor of Los Angeles.

As chefs have become more creative and as foodies have sought to explore more adventurous and novel dishes, a movement has developed in which formerly discarded parts are now fought over like the wishbone at Thanksgiving dinner.

I eat chocolate just about every day. Okay, every day. I love nothing more than a good rich dark chocolate. It exhilarates. It satisfies. My father loved chocolate. I got my stomach for sweets from him.

The OohLaLA Festival sashayed onto the scene for a third installment of its French musical showcase. The festival featured a diverse lineup of contemporary talent, each exuding a certain je ne sais quoi.

Always wanted to do some self-inspired Irish step-dancing in the middle of Culver City? Now is your chance. Celtic band Molly's Revenge with vocalist Christa Burch provide the music for this week of the Culver City Music Festival.